Thoughtful comments but you left out a very important incredient
in your analysis. If Texas goes indy where do they park all of their other
sports most of which are very strong and competitive? There don't seem to be
any good alternatives which is why for now Texas wants to act like an
independent but remain a member of a BCS conference. BYU landed 11 of their
olympic sports in the WCC which will work for them. Texas? Who knows.

Chris B- your comment has nothing to do with the article. I'm in Big 12 country
and they are not happy with this Texas deal.... But to be honest the Big 12 is
nothing without them, so it is going to have to work. Go Sooners! Keep that #1
all year baby!

This isn't really new news as it was no secret last summer that Texas viewed
what BYU was doing very closely, especially taking a very good look at BYUtv.
UT wants to do the same thing, while not necessarily having to look to football
independence. But I wouldn't put it past them, their brand is so great and has
to be one of the top college brands in the country. They'll bide their time and
eventually use their clout to push their way to get what they want. It was true
before and it will remain true in the future that the Big12 is completely
dependent on UT to prop them up, which is why it would have collapsed has UT
left for the PACx.

They'll closely be watching the BYUtv scene, even
though it'll be more to see what mistakes BYU makes rather than to see if it'll
be successful. UT must be quite jealous over BYU right now and will be working
and waiting until it's their turn to take control over their own visibility.

BYUtv already is a success for football independence reasons...they're
visible and will remain so. Nothing else really matters to BYU.

@Dutchman - don't be surprised when more football schools declare conference
independence and then band together in a conference, of sorts, for their other
programs. Assuming either both schools or maybe just the home team gets
broadcast rights on their own networks. It'll happen, and BYU will have been
the catalyst of it all.

Great Article Bro. Sikahema. B.Y.U. going independent could really shake up
college football and cause the Texas, Oklahoma,and other big name schools to go
that route. Utah is not included as the "other schools" because you
need a conference and you have the PAC 12 to get your exposure and you don't
have the marketability that B.Y.U. has which enabled them to sign their deal
with ESPN. Can't wait for Cougar football!

@Dutchman, my exact thoughts while reading the article. Texas can't put it's
basketball, baseball, etc teams in the Sun Belt or similar. They very likely
won't be able to keep them in the Big XII while indy in football. Notre Dame
works so well because all non-football sports are in the Big East. BYU didn't
care about their non-football sports and were okay throwing them in the WCC. I
really don't think anyone in Texas will be watching BYUtv (as Vai suggests)
unless they are LDS.

Chris B must be talking about Utah. I seriously was laughing my head off
re-watching the highlights of the biggest game in Utah sports history (TCU vs.
Utah) Talk about being out coached, out classed, and thoroughly pummeled. The
best part is the next week they got smoked by a mediocre Notre Dame team ha ha:)
Truly the best part though is that a freshman qb'd worst BYU football team in 5
years nearly beat them on there home field. The Utes have been enjoying exactly
what Chris B is talking about for way to long. Luckily for them there going
into the Pac so they can continue to beat patsies. If I remember correctly Utah
doesn't play even 1 team ranked in the top 25 preseason coaches poll. Keep
building you guys into something your not:)

crisb; Your crystal ball of BYU predictions hasn't treated you too well in
the past. Why do you think it is working now?

College Football + TV
= big money. I am predicting that there will much more leeway given to big name
teams to make their own deals if they will stay in the their conferences. A
small share of a lot of $ is better than an equal share of a little $. I would
not be surprised to see USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Michigan and several
other schools follow BYU and Texas in creating their own TV networks. You may
even see the "independent" teams join together to create an
affiliation or conference for their other sports to play in and to have a base
of teams for their football schedules. This is just the beginning. Good or
bad, college football will look a lot different in 5 years. Hopefully the BCS
will collapse while this is going on.

I wouldn't mind seeing the top level LDS high school athletes shown on BYUtv
once in a while. Would be fun to see what people are up to around the country.
Not sure if the resources are there for BYU to truck around on Friday nights to
show high school games outside of the intermountain west, but I'd tune in.

Is Chris B the same guy that said he would NEVER again post on an article about
BYU if the Cougars beat SDSU in basketball?

Just got my season
tickets in the mail. Can't wait for the season to start. Having almost EVERY
game on espn is going to make it even better. Then after going to the game I
can catch it again on BYUtv.

Luckily for Utah they scheduled BYU this
year. Otherwise they might not have any games on national tv this year.